How Isaac Asimov Conquered theDewey Decimal System

Asimov, the late doyen of science

fiction, had a productivity that

frightened all but the most

prolific novelists.

He wrote or edited more

than 500 books, hundreds of

short stories and essays.

His books were published in 9 of

the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal

System.

So how did he manage to out-write other authors by a

factor of 10 or even 100?

11 Asimov wrote every day, whether or not he felt like it.

Asimov started his work day between 9:30 and 10 am. He took

only small breaks and worked well into the night.

He typed over 90 words a minute on his electric typewriter, with a backup

in case it broke.

He went to bed at 10 or 11 pm, probably drafting an outline for the next part of the book in his dreams.

He scoffed at the idea of “writer's block.” He believed

that output was far better than deeply nuanced dithering.

22 Asimov used a simple writing style.

Asimov preferred a completely unembellished style of writing.

His characters were simple and the dialogue was functional.

There is very little for a criticto interpret when characters

do the work for them.

“I guess I'm prolific because I have a simple

and straightforward style.”

33 Asimov didn't care about critics.

Many authors avoid such simplicity in their writing because they want to

appear sophisticated.

They often use impenetrable prose in order to impress critics

with their “deep ideas.”

Asimov believed that flowery

language, useless adverbs, and nonsensical

metaphors would only clutter up his writing and make it more of a chore

for the reader.

“I made up my mindlong ago to follow one cardinal rule in all my writing—to be clear. [...] I would write merely clearly and in this way establish a warm relationship between myself and my readers, and the professional critics—Well, they can do whatever they wish.”

Isaac Asimov

Michael Rank is the author of 12 books and host of the History in

Five Minutes Podcast. His new book is called The Most

Productive People in History: 18 Extraordinarily Prolific Inventors, Artists, and Entrepreneurs, From

Archimedes to Elon Musk.

Then grab your FREE copy of...

77 77 GoodGoodHabitsHabits

to Live ato Live aBetter LifeBetter Life

Then grab your FREE copy of...

77 77 GoodGoodHabitsHabits

to Live ato Live aBetter LifeBetter Life

Click to access!